What do Everton see when they look in the mirror? What Farhad Moshiri desires and what actually greets his eyes in reality are two totally different things altogether.The club he took over in 2016 have spent money with a regularity that is synonymous with Champions League standard clubs, yet familiar demons continue to haunt the Toffees.Sunday afternoon’s clash at the Emirates Stadium merely provided another example – as if any more were needed – of the existential problems Carlo Ancelotti needs to dissect, address and resolve if he wishes to break the status quo on the blue half of Merseyside.Given Everton’s dismal record away at the top six clubs, historically speaking the fixture was straightforward to predict: away win or draw. On the flip side, trends are there to be broken.It’s a numbers games after all: if you apply for enough jobs, eventually you’ll get an interview, if you send enough fan mail to your favourite celebrity, eventually you’ll be humoured with a response (not an official guarantee) and if you visit the Premier League’s established top six clubs on enough occasions, eventually you’ll take three points.Or so the theory goes.
Everton, however, are seemingly making it their primary objective to become the antithesis of this theory. Defeat at the Emirates Stadium leaves them without a win away at the Gunners since 1996. Since their last victory they have conceded four or more goals on six separate occasions and were even trounced 7-0 in 2005 as Robin van Persie, Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira all got on the scoresheet.
No manager has been able to lead Everton to victory over one of the top six since 2013 when a Bryan Oviedo strike clinched the points against Man United at Old Trafford. You have to trace back to 2010 to find their last win away at Man City, 2008 for a win at Spurs and 1994 for three points away at Chelsea.
A win away at local-rivals Liverpool? Not a single one since the turn of the millennium.
If the Toffees’ aggressive spending strategy and appointment of Carlo Ancelotti are anything to go by, these are the sides Moshiri wants to rub shoulders with, to compete with and emulate, to usurp and dethrone. From one perspective they are already doing that. According to Spotrac, Everton’s wage bill is the third highest in the division, with only the two Manchester clubs spending more money on wages per season.
Yet, for all their investment, they are stuck in a recurring, Groundhog Day style nightmare which carries an unnerving sense of inevitability about it.
They seem entrenched in a rut, and no wonder when one of the most expensive signings in their history, Gylfi Sigurdsson, represents an individual embodiment of Everton’s perennial struggle to book a place at England’s top table.
It would be an understatement to say the Iceland international was far from his best at the weekend but, from a statistical perspective, he made some sort of stamp on proceedings, registering three key passes, three tackles and a pass success rate of 78% in a well-rounded showing, per Sofascore.
Yet it still wasn’t enough. There was style without substance, promise in the absence of a meaningful contribution.
Sigurdsson is a player who, in fleeting moments of unadulterated class, has threatened to blossom into a Champions League standard footballer. His permanent move to Spurs in 2012, however, culminated with a return to Swansea City before Everton provided him with an opportunity to spearhead the club’s revolution when he moved to Merseyside in a deal worth £45m.
And yet here he remains stuck in the cycle of mediocrity that his move was surely intended to break. Just like Everton, he has been on the cusp of the elite for as long as most can remember. Those stunning long range strikes and the ability to find elusive pockets of space from which to hurt the opposition always pointed towards a more prosperous future.
The statistical disparity, in terms of goal contributions at least, between 2018/19 Siguardsson and 2019/20 Sigurdsson is akin to Everton’s collective struggle to become a major player in the English game.
While his passing is as reliable, if not more so, than last season, the goal contribution tally leaves plenty to be desired. Just when the 30-year-old appeared to be reaching his peak and stood on the precipice of the top brass he tumbled back into mediocrity this season, leaving one journalist questioning what Carlo Ancelotti must think of the club’s decision to part with such an extortionate fee to secure his signature following his display against Arsenal.
The biggest challenge Ancelotti faces at Everton does not concern tactics or a transfer window overhaul.
The Italian legend must simultaneously change the identity and breed a culture of perpetual improvement. Like Everton, Sigurdsson has moved sideways during his club career and failed to climb to the heights his talent perhaps merited.
Addressing that issue will not be swift, but finding the solution to Everton’s existential crisis is the first step towards progress.
